Itis the duty of the Municipal Electoral Officer to announce the official results of the by-elections that were held in Kouga yesterday (27 November 2013).

The by-elections were held after Kouga lost Democratic Alliance (DA) ward councillor Eugene Group in Ward 5, Humansdorp, and African National Congress (ANC) ward councillor Lulamile Ntshiza in Ward 9, Hankey.

After the declaration of the vacancies, only two parties chose to contest the by-elections, ie, the DA and ANC.

WARD 5

The ANC registered Mr Booi Koerat as their candidate in Ward 5 and the DA fielded Mr Desmond Petersen.

The total number of eligible voters in this ward was 3111.

The total number of votes cast in the by-election was 1744 (56,06% voter turn-out). Of these 11 were spoilt ballots.

The DA received 1001 votes and the ANC received 732.

WARD 9

In Ward 9 where 5 302 voters were eligible to vote, 3664 votes were cast (69,11% voter turn-out). Of these 38 were spoilt.

The ANC fielded Xolisile Persent and the DA’s candidate was Otto Williams.

The ANC received 2029 votes and the DA received 1597 votes.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

Voter turn-out in Ward 5 decreased by 2,6% (from 58,66% in 2011 to 56,06% in 2013). The voter turn-out in Ward 9 remained fairly stable (from 69,4& in 2011 to 69,11% in 2013).

No incidents were reported to the IEC on the day of voting. The IEC wishes to congratulate both parties on this achievement.

However, we are concerned about the number of people who were not registered but who tried to vote on the day, as well as about the management of special votes by the parties.

We also noted that many young people, though visibly active in campaigning, were not registered to vote.